OAK PARK – Oak Park and River Forest’s early season roller-coaster ride came with a late thrill Tuesday.

Locked in a 0-0 tie with Young through 77-plus minutes, the Huskies (3-1-0) turned a Young offensive zone attack into quick results at the other end of the field.

Blake Soto’s nice sliding clear from the top of the box at his end triggered a Brody Bliss dash inside midfield.

Moments later, Matt Hawthorne’s cross from the right side of the box found James Maguire, whose low 22-yard rocket zoomed off and past diving Young goalkeeper Dixon O’Banion, who got one hand on the shot.

The goal with 2:25 stood up for a 1-0 OPRF win that got the Huskies back on track after a 4-1 loss to Larkin in the Leyden Challenge Cup on Saturday.

“We had a great win (4-0 score) against Leyden, a really solid team,” said OPRF coach Jason Fried, whose team won the tournament on a tiebreaker. “Then against Larkin we came out and got away from our type of soccer. I give Larkin a lot of credit for it – they stepped back on us and had a great center forward. But we let them take us out of our game plan.

“You could tell it kind of carried over (Tuesday). We didn’t a practice yesterday because of the weather. We came out today the same way, but the second half I felt they started opening up a little better. In the second half we had a little more energy, you could tell they had calmed down a little bit. And every little mistake didn’t multiply -– if they made a mistake, it’s over. It’s not a big deal.”

Man of the Match Maguire was a combination of exhausted and elated after spinning a back-and-forth battle into the Huskies’ favor.

“I was tired,” Maguire said, “but I was running upfield, open, and I yelled to Hawthorne, ‘One more.’ And I hit it.

“We were frustrated, but in the halftime talk coach said to settle down, play our game. It was still frustrating (not scoring earlier), but we found a way.”

Frustrating certainly describes the offense this fall for Young (0-3-1). The Dolphins have scored just one goal this season, a factor that is overshadowing solid play in every other facet of the game.

“It’s been the story of our season, a lot of possessing,” Young coach Ian McCarthy said. “It’s really just been a matter of finding that last dangerous ball and putting a strike on goal. We’ve seen a number of games now where we had the majority of possession, playing really nicely but just trying to get our players in a dangerous spot.”

Young senior co-captain Josue Espinoza echoed the need for more aggression.

“You really have to go after it,” Espinoza said. “We were going to be satisfied with 0-0, but it shouldn’t be like that. Our mindset should be that we need to go after it.”

The Young defense did its part, until the fateful Maguire shot.

“We forced them (OPRF) to play long, and I don’t know if they were comfortable doing that,” McCarthy said. “But obviously we kind of had a breakdown there at the end when they scored their goal.

“But it’s a matter of making plays for 80 minutes rather than scrambling there at the end and trying to defend. The kid (Maguire) had a great finish, a good shot.”

Said Espinoza of the goal: “I feel like somebody should have kicked it out. And even if they (OPRF) got through (the midfield) somebody should have at least fouled and even gotten a yellow card. It’s the last two minutes.”

The need for last-minute heroics seemed unlikely in the match’s opening moments.

OPRF standout Andrew Barkidjija’s 12-yard drive just 50 seconds into the match was denied on a nice diving save by O’Banion. Then came an even closer Huskies chance in the fourth minute.

Fielding a cross in the right side of the box, Bliss chipped a high 10-yard shot over a charging O’Banion. The lofting Bliss try bounced high off the left post, inches from an early lead for OPRF.

But after eluding those two early threats, Young was rejuvenated.

In the next 13 minutes, a 20-yard Jake Gerenraich free kick, a Josue Espinoza right side attack (denied by Soto) and a Gerenraich corner kick (denied by a Jai Hsieh-Bailey shot block) were highlights of the Dolphins’ push.

The half ended with dueling threats: OPRF’s Cameron Duncan attacked the middle off a Bobby Iwashima pass, but his 15-yard shot 6:40 before the half was denied on a low catch by O’Banion.

In the 37th minute, OPRF goalkeeper Kel Felton made a low catch of a 20-yard Gerenraich shot. An offside call against Oak Park and River Forest one minute later nullified a would-be Sam Menzies goal off a Tommy Pasternak pass, then Espinoza's shot just wide on an attack up the middle 30 seconds before the half.

For each side, strong defensive stands and frustrating missed chances near the net were developing into the norm of the night.

“I feel like we have to get our chemistry a little better,” Espinoza said. “Our attacking mids and forwards aren’t always showing up to the play. Once they start showing up a little more, we can start passing the ball better and getting better shots.”

OPRF’s defense played a role in denying those attacks. The Huskies have allowed just five goals all season, four in the Larkin game.

“We came off a huge high against Leyden (a 4-0 win), and then were horrible against Larkin,” Soto said. “This is a huge bounce back to win this game.

“I just tried to be physical throughout most of the game,” Soto added, “and just run passes off the midfielders to open up Tom (Pasternak) and Jai at the outside backs, and then just push up as a unit and keep me and Eric (Gusloff) over the top.”

Soto and the Huskies’ defense have impressed their coach.

“Our backline in general have been playing really well,” Fried said. “Blake Soto, a junior, has come a long way from last year. He’s playing with a lot more confidence. He’s making some huge plays in the back for us, and he’s playing really composed. When there are any bad moments for him, he’s recovered really fast, and that’s a huge thing for us.

“And (midfielder) Bobby Iwashima is a newcomer this year for us, and he’s given us four really solid games. He plays very smart, positions himself well, wins a lot of 50-50 balls. He’s been a great addition for us in general.”

“Those two guys (Soto and Iwashima) have really stood out for me,” Fried added. “And Maguire’s a captain, really solid. He’s been working really hard and never gives up. He’s such a tough player, and all that work pays off with a winning goal.

“And Andrew Barkidjija has a huge work rate in the middle, playing great. He had a hat trick in our second game (versus Leyden). There’s a ton he does that you don’t see in the stats, that goes unnoticed. All those guys are playing really well.”

Young has had its own pool of standouts through the first four matches of 2017.

“Aidan Chapman our forward,” McCarthy said. “It’s a new position for him, and he’s done a good job of winning balls and giving us a chance going forward.

“Jake and Josue are obviously two of our better players, and their combination of the midfield, whether it’s with (Esme) McCarthy or (Rodney) Bejabeng, is kind of controlling the possession of the game and the pace of it. So we have good skill players in the middle. It’s just a matter of guys getting on the ends of balls and finishing.

“And Dixon O’Banion made some nice saves,” McCarthy added. “I think he got a hand on that last one (the Maguire goal), but it was drilled and really hard to stop.”

O’Banion stopped everything else, including a leaping deflection over the crossbar of a 15-yard Sam Menzies shot with 35:30 left in the match.

Off the ensuing corner kick, Iwashima lined a 15-yard shot over the net. But in the night of back and forth, Young’s Evan Wimberly answered with 33:30 left by left-footing his own 15-yard drive just wide of the right post.

The middle of the second half continued that theme – an Espinoza 30-yard rocket over the net with 23:30 to go, followed by a nice Maguire send to the box at 19:40 in which O’Banion barely beat Duncan to the loose ball.

An Iwashima corner kick with 12:30 to go was touched just wide of the near post by Maguire, followed by a Maguire header over the net off an Iwashima 17-yard free kick with 8:30 to play.

Young answered in the 75th minute -– off a McCarthy pass, Chapman’s shot in the box was blocked by Barkidjija and cleared. Then with 3:30 left, Espinoza made a midfield steal and drove the middle, sending a pass just wide of the right post.

Just over one minute later, OPRF had the next chance – and Maguire finished.

“It’s all mental, staying focused,” Maguire said. “Last year we lost so many last-minute games. To end this with a close win is huge for us.”

Fried seconded that emotion, especially since the nonconference win came against a team in the Huskies’ sectional come November.

“We needed that,” Fried said. “The guys have been pressing a lot lately, feeling frustrated trying to score, so any kind of goal we can get to spark things. That was a great goal.

“They’re frustrated the whole game because they’re not scoring, but you just have to stick with it. And they got one.

“It’s a good win, we’ll take it,” Fried added. “Good for a young team, and a good win for us in our sectional against a really good team.”

Up 1-0, the Huskies had to withstand a late wave of attacks by Young. An Espinoza 35-yard free kick with 25 seconds left was deflected wide for a corner kick. But in the frenzied restart in the final 10 seconds, Gusloff and Iwashima combined on a block of an attempted cross as time expired.

“Especially after last game this is a confidence booster,” Soto said. “It shows how much we can do as a team, even in the final minutes of the game we can come together.

“We just had to keep going, keep playing our game. Keep it on the ground and don’t panic.”

The Huskies avoided panic, and nicely bounced back from the Larkin loss.

“We started off really good – the first two games (wins over Riverside-Brookfiedl and Leyden) the guys played really solid,” Fried said. “They kept it simple, which is a big thing for us. Two-touch soccer, you don’t have to win the game (individually). Just play 10 guys on the field plus our goalkeeper gets into a lot of it, and you’ll be fine.”

“In the second half we started seeing more opportunities,” Fried added. “A good game all around. We’re just happy to come out on top.”

For Young, its quality level of play should soon pay off. Improvement in one area will be key.

“Finishing,” McCarthy said. “We can’t pitch a shutout every game. Teams should be able to score goals against us, and we can come back and score one or two back at them. Otherwise you’re asking your defense and goalie to play a flawless game, which is very difficult to do at the varsity level.”

Said Espinoza: “I feel like we just need better organization and better chemistry. And once our youngsters get some more experience, we’ll be a lot better.”

With Tuesday’s win, OPRF is already back to feeling better.

“We just have to keep building on it,” Fried said. “We have a lot of depth this year, 22 good players and 22 great guys. We have a lot of fun. Hopefully we keep getting better and have a lot of success.”